Industrial engagement

Through maintaining prominence at key UK events, we have further expanded our national reach and embedded our central role in the photonics community. Events in 2017 included exhibiting at the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) Photonics “Industry Showcase”, held at the House of Commons for an audience of industry representatives and MPs, and demonstrating our technologies at the launch of the BAE Systems University Engagement Strategy, where we were one of five research institutions selected to participate. We also hosted a Q&A session at Photonex, the UK’s largest photonics trade show, to open the call for applications to our 2017 Innovation Fund.

Our first industry day, held in Southampton in September 2016, was attended by more than 125 delegates and featured an exhibition of 35 UK photonics companies. The day included a keynote speech by Dr Andrew Rickman OBE, CEO and Chairman of Rockley Photonics, speed-networking with Hub researchers and cleanroom tours. In 2017, we co-organised a hugely successful satellite meeting in Coventry, targeting silicon photonics adoption in UK industry. The one-day event, held in parallel to the Photonex 2017 trade show, was attended by over 100 delegates. We are currently planning to host an even larger-scale industry day in 2018.

We use a range of mechanisms to connect with companies and prospective partners, from securing features on our latest developments in relevant trade press to hosting bilateral meetings and visits to our facilities. Events and exhibitions are a key part of the Hub’s industrial engagement strategy, enabling us to open up discussions on both specific industry needs and sector-wide challenges in manufacturing, and providing an opportunity to demonstrate our research capabilities.

To date, our team has represented the Hub at 40 conferences, trade shows and networking meetings across the UK and in six countries across North America, Europe and Asia. We have exhibited at some of the world’s largest and best-known international conferences, helping promote UK photonics capability through activities including:

n Exhibiting as part of the UK Pavilion at SPIE Photonics West 2017 in

San Francisco, the world’s largest annual event for the photonics, laser, and biomedical optics industries. Discussions with visitors to the exhibition stand generated over 20 strong leads. Our researchers were equally well-represented in the conference with their work featured in 34 papers and posters.

n Co-hosting an industry networking reception with UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), the Knowledge and Transfer Network (KTN) and Innovate UK, to mark the launch of our joint market report on the UK photonics industry. This event was just one aspect of the Hub’s strong presence at Laser World of Photonics,

Munich 2017, one of the world’s leading photonics trade fairs, attended by 32,000 people. Hub Director, Professor Sir David Payne, also gave a plenary speech on the impact of photonics in transforming communications and manufacturing at the associated CLEO Europe conference, run in parallel to the exhibition.